Madison County Sheriff’s Department settles racial-profiling lawsuit

The Madison County Sheriff’s Department has agreed to settle a racial profiling lawsuit without admitting guilt.

The department has also requested that the financial details remain secret, but U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves, who said he would approve the settlement, expressed reservations of that aspect of the case. His written ruling is expected later.

The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of eight African American defendants in the county in 2017, accused the department of “methodically targeting Black individuals for suspicionless searches and seizures while they are driving their cars, walking in their neighborhoods, or even just spending time in their own homes (the “Policing Program”). MCSD deputies frequently used unjustified and excessive force in conducting these searches and seizures.”

As a result, the suit claims, many black residents of the county experience “chronic fear and anxiety, disruptions to their everyday activities, restrictions on travel within their own neighborhoods and towns, and a tremendous reluctance to contact law enforcement officials for assistance when necessary.

“… In effect, the Policing Program has placed the Black community of Madison County under a permanent state of siege.”

The suit also said that Sheriff Randy Tucker “not only enforced the Policing Program but also expanded its scope,” while being “deliberately indifferent to the constitutional violations” of the program.

Under the terms of the settlement, the department enters a four-year consent decree where it must put unbiased law enforcement policies into place and give its officers training on the how to implement those policies, the Clarion Ledger reported. Roadblocks with a quarter mile of 14 apartment complexes are prohibited, and the department must maintain a database of its stops, which must include the reasons for the stop and the race of those stopped.

A community advisory board will monitor the specifics of the consent decree.

“We are really pleased with the settlement,” Joshua Tom, executive director of the ACLU of Mississippi. told the Clarion Ledger. “We believe it is a great first step.”

Click to read the lawsuit.